Last updated on 11 September 2026
Data centres, connected objects, artificial intelligence: the development of digital technology leads to new energy needs. But the same technologies also make it possible to better understand consumption, predict electricity production or manage networks and equipment more efficiently.
This is a particularly interesting apparent contradiction to submit to the students. Through a concrete case study, they can ask themselves: Can digital use … energy to save money? Here are content, free resources from the site Planet Energies and exploitation ideas with your high school students.
Table of Contents
A less simple question than it seems
When addressing the environmental impact of digital technology in the classroom, reflection often leads naturally to sobriety: limit certain uses, avoid unnecessary consumption, extend the life of equipment. But reducing the issue to “digital consumes, so you have to use it less” would leave out another part of the topic.
Sensors, communicating meters, control software, data analysis or artificial intelligence can help to better understand consumption and make more accurate decisions.
In the energy sector, digital technology is thus playing an increasing role in forecasting electricity consumption and renewable energy production, operating networks and anticipating certain outages. This is shown in particular by the resource Planet Energies. ‘How is digital transforming the energy sector?’.
Measure to be able to act
Let's take an example: a building with only known annual electricity consumption provides little information on when energy is consumed or possibly wasted. Sensors and control systems can be used to monitor usage more closely, to adapt heating or lighting and to identify anomalies.
The same logic at the scale of an electricity network: where production depends partly on variable sources such as solar or wind, having data and forecasts makes it possible to better adjust production, consumption, distribution and storage.
The Planet Energies video Reconciling digital and energy consumption presents in particular the principle of smart cities and electricity grids, which use data to better understand and optimise consumption.
But this optimisation itself has a cost: the sensors, connected equipment, networks and servers required for its operation consume energy. The resource ‘Does digital really consume a lot of energy?’ allows precisely this other side of the subject to be introduced.
The question can then be moved: ‘Is digital good or bad for the environment?’ The most important thing is to ask Under what conditions does its use bring a real energy benefit?
A case study to work on the subject with your students
This problem lends itself particularly well to group activity.
Each group receives one use case:
- controlled heating in a building;
- connected lighting;
- smart meter;
- electricity grid using consumption data;
- sensors for anticipating a failure on an installation.
A first column makes it possible to identify what the digital device requires : equipment, sensors, connection, data processing or storage, electricity.
A second column lists what it can do to optimise or avoid : unnecessary heating, illumination of an empty space, maintenance displacement, poor anticipation of a consumption peak …
Then there is the third and most interesting column: What information would we need to know if the final result is positive?
Students must then compare what the solution brings and what it mobilises itself. The debate becomes much more interesting as soon as we leave the simple "for or against" to look for the data that would make it possible to decide.
A topic particularly suitable for SI and STI2D students
In high school, it is a particularly relevant issue in engineering sciences and STI2D : improving the efficiency of a system, data acquisition and processing, steering, optimisation, eco-design and taking sustainable development into account.
It can also be exploited in Physics and Chemistry, around the concepts of energy, power, efficiency and energy efficiency. Above all, it puts students in a real analytical position: innovation is not sustainable because it is digital. It is still necessary to be able to measure the benefits it brings and compare them with the resources it mobilises.
Free resources to consume without moderation ☺
The resources of Planète Énergies offer several complementary supports to address this issue, including: an infographic on AI energy consumption. These resources are free and accessible directly on the site.
Institutions can also access Planète Énergies from their ENT via the GAR. The licence is free of charge; once the resource is assigned by the school’s GAR or digital manager, it appears in the media centre and can be used by teachers and students with their usual identifiers.
This article is published as part of a partnership with Planète Energies.
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